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Mighty Eighth's B-17 gets new power supply through donation

Corey Dickstein/Savannah Morning News Jeff Hoopes, a volunteer who has worked on the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B-17, demonstrates how the bomber's chin turrets work on Tuesday morning.

Corey Dickstein/Savannah Morning News These twin .50 caliber machine guns are part of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B17, "The City of Savannah." The museum on Tueseday demonstrated how they work. Eventually they'll be mounted to the plane as they would have been when it was used during World War II.

Corey Dickstein/Savannah Morning News These twin .50 caliber machine guns are part of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B17, "The City of Savannah." The museum on Tueseday demonstrated how they work. Eventually they'll be mounted to the plane as they would have been when it was used during World War II.

Corey Dickstein/Savannah Morning News A chin turret sits below the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum's B17 the "City of Savannah." Thanks to a donation from Chroma Systems Solutions, Inc. the twin .50 caliber machine guns are operational and will eventually be mounted on the plane.

A mechanical squeal echoed through the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum’s Combat Gallery as Jeff Hoopes swung the twin .50 caliber machine guns from left to right using their hand control grips.

The retired Naval flight officer grinned as he explained how to operate the World War II-era chin turret that will soon be mounted to the museum’s massive B-17 Flying Fortress the City of Savannah.

“It gives me goosebumps,” Hoopes said of demonstrating how the electronically powered guns work. “When I do that I put myself back in the minds of the kids — the kids, seriously — that did that at 19, 20 years old in 20 to 40 degree below zero (weather) while being shot at.”

The turret was brought to life Tuesday thanks to California-based Chroma Systems Solutions, Inc., which donated two DC power supply modules that allow the plane to be fully powered through the museum’s electricity. Before, the plane was relying on battery power.

That, Hoopes said, wasn’t working very well.

“This is like a heart transplant for the plane,” he said. “You can see the batteries and the battery chargers that was the original electrical supply system for this thing. We needed something more.”

Chroma agreed to donate the two modules — which totaled about $15,000 — after the museum contacted them about the issues it was having.

“It was a no-brainer for me,” said Steve Grodt, Chroma’s marketing manager who approved the project. “It’s not a huge investment on our part to offer these to the museum.

“We saw a need… and it seemed like a win-win for everybody.”

The modules will give the museum the ability to constantly power the chin turret at the front of the plane, a ball turret on the plane’s belly, a top turret, the bomber’s wing flaps, all its lights, and its radio control room.

It’s a big step toward attaining the museum’s goal of making the City of Savannah the most impressive static display of a B-17 in the world, said Henry Skipper, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum’s president and CEO.

Along with the museum’s education director, Heather Thies, Skipper briefed a group of fourth- and fifth-graders from Juliette Low Elementary about the plane and its role in combat. Each year, Skipper added, about 20,000 students tour the museum.

“We want to make this as great an educational service as possible to the many children who come through the museum each year,” Skipper said. “They usually leave amazed. You can see just by the looks on their faces right in front of the demonstration today that it brings it to life for them.”

The museum still needs funding to complete the project it began in January 2009, said Mandy Livingston, the Mighty Eighth’s spokeswoman.

“All of this would not be possible without Chroma and everyone else who has made donations to this project,” Livingston said. “We’ve got this chin turret now; we’re still raising funds for the other two moveable turrets. The tail turret is being reconstructed, but that’s not a moveable one.”

Once completed, the B-17 — one of an estimated 50 left in the world — will be in its full combat configuration, Hoopes said.

“This gift of technology that Chroma has given us is incredible,” he said. “This is going to make us be able to do anything we want to this airplane, which is just going to be fantastic for the museum, the community and the heritage of (World War II) veterans.”